Playstation fanatics have been patiently awaiting the arrival of “LittleBigPlanet,” a platformer action game that has been described as “beautiful,” “dazzling,” and “very special.” I have to admit, I considered asking Santa for a PS3 just to play this game.
Well… there’s been a recall. The game apparently featured a song with lyrics from the Quran, Muslim gamers told Sony that the song could offend some members of the religion (we can’t forget Sony’s run in with the Church of England last year over the game “Resistance: Fall of Man”). Sony had originally planned to have the game on shelves Monday of this week, now… LBP will likely see the light of day on the 27th or possibly the first week of November.
One Muslim group is speaking out against Sony’s decision to initiate a world wide recall of the original version of the game.
M. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, said:
"…Muslims cannot benefit from freedom of expression and religion and then turn around and ask that anytime their sensibilities are offended that the freedom of others be restricted. The free market allows for expression of disfavor by simply not purchasing a game that may be offensive. But to demand that it be withdrawn is predicated on a society which gives theocrats who wish to control speech far more value than the central principle of freedom of expression upon which the very practice and freedom of religion is based…”
"...We (the AIFD) do not endorse any restriction whatsoever on the release of this videogame but would only ask those with concerns to simply choose not to buy it. We would hope that the producer’s decision not be made in any way out of fear but rather simply based upon freedom of expression and the free market…”
Is this a case of political correctness overblown, or has Sony handled the situation appropriately? Videogames already come with parental advisory labels, should we consider adding a portion to the existing label that details a game’s political correctness? Your thoughts…
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21 comments:
Offensive wording? How about offensive images of women in video games? Don't get me started. I'm a First Amendment advocate so absolutely lean toward allowing the game to go to market, letting the consumer decide. However, I wonder if our current conflicts in the Middle East, as we fight our enemies and look for supporters, should be considered in this case? Perhaps marketers should be a bit hyper-sensitive right now as western nations try to figure out how to build relationships with middle eastern nations? Different audiences require different relationships...perhaps there can't be one general rule...
Well...Since I was one of the people awaiting this games arrival, I can sort of contribute to this. As stated, the game was delayed because of some Muslim players' regarding the wording in a song by Toumani Diabaté to be offensive. The delay seemed a little pointless, from my perspective, because they did not remove the song at all. It was fixed in a downloadable patch that came out within the week of the 27th. The issue with "correctness" is a very important one when it comes to the gaming industry. A video game company wants to sell their games...but if people don't like the content in the game, people will not buy it. Not having people buy their games means that the company will not profit. Having something offensive to a religion will not look good for Sony's profits. So, in order to keep making money AND keep past customers happy, they take out the song. People buy the game, Sony makes money, everyone's happy. On a seperate opinion, I really enjoy the game, and it was worth a measly week's time to get it.
I have to agree with Mr. Jasser, sony is showing a lot of respect by recalling the game but they don't have to because if the song offends people they shouldn't buy the game. Its all about the consumer and what they choose or do not choose to buy. If sony wanted to keep the song in the game and not recall its all up to them. They have the right to free speech. I believe that by recalling the game to take the song out might have been a great move on thier part because it shows responsability.
It seems these days you can't say or make anything that does not offend someone. I agree completely with the M. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. People have the choice to buy it or not. Is it offensive to a certain group of people? Probably, but don't buy it. Our number of goods being produced will start to decline if we pick out every little detail that is offensive.
Sony must be petrified of lawsuits because in addition to this overreaction they are now pulling user created levels because they might contain copyright infringements. They are not giving the creators any warning or explanation. They should know if they are going to have a game that you can create anything in, there is going to be this scenario and to have at least some sort of warning system set up. On another note it is a fun game to play and I have no idea how it could ever offend a person. It should be a positive launch, a fun, nonviolent game that the whole family could play should make everybody happy, guess not.
Collyn Rankin MCCNM 101 11:00
The world is too politically correct in today's society. It is OK for there to rap songs about killing all the white people or any other race. It's OK to rap or sing about going into a church and killing the congregation. With all that is allowed in today's society I find it incredibly stupid that we can have video games about how to kill JFK but we can't have any that have lyrics from the Quran. Our country was founded through ideals that were not politically correct and we have become a super power nation because of it. Stop censoring freedom in America, who cares if we hurt a couple of people along the way, that's life. This is relevant to anyone in mass communications because everyone is incredibly politically correct, it's gotten to the point that it makes me sick.
I feel that given the current relationship that America has with the Middle East, this was a good decision by Sony. As little of a problem the song may have been seen as, in this case I think Sony did the right thing. There is a fine line between the 1st Ammendment and being careful not to step on any ones toes. When you are a company as big as Sony and have a game coming out with this much hype it was the safer choice to recall the game. They didn't lose anything by recalling it, they only built up the anticipation more so I don't see any harm done. Now if they had released the game without making any changes there may have been some problems.
While there are parental advisory stickers on games, I don't think it is necessary to warn for conflicts. A person should know that when purchasing a game they are open to being offended, but something as simple as a song is going a bit too far. When I think about how vile videogames have become it seems trivial to recall a game because of a song. Think about it, they make videogames that are based on previous wars like the Vietnam War. That to some might seem offensive even though it was part of history.
-Amanda-
I dont think that the song should have been removed from the video game. People get offended too easily these days. If they dont get offended by a song then theyll get offended by something else. People just need to relax and not take everything so seriously.
Jeremy Romero
I find that companies that put out a product they try to keep it from being offensive to anyone that would buy the product. I have seen that there are many different times that companies will pull out content if it is offensive to a religion or a group of people. The fact that this song was in the game may have just been an oversight. It did delay the game for a week, but it is better to fix this than to leave it alone and anger many people by offending their beliefs.
with this issue i dont belive sony should of recalled anything they have the right to put anything they want. they have the freedom of speach they can do what ever they want. when they came out with grand left auto which is a very contruversail game they didnt care. if you find it offensive dont fuck with it. I dont put myself in spots that i find unconfratble. its simple stay away from it.
Sony has its own plans and then somewhere in this world people get upset and then make a big deal out of it. Well somewhere is this world someone is always going to be upset with something going on so Sony did what it had to do and that was the end of it. But just wait this is going to blow up in Sony's face once again because games are getting more realistic and more violent so get over it to the people that are getting upset and enjoy life. Sony probably didn't mean to do that but they screwed up like no one in this world has screwed up seriously let the game go and collect $200. Sony is going to do what they want to do and they took care of that situation.
Sony's decision was a well placed and responsible one. Whether or not they removed the song from the game is irrelevant. What matters is that they heard a complaint about the game and took time to consider whether or not it should be changed, and the fact that the complaint was one about offensiveness to a certain group of people just makes the issue more serious. It would've been irresponsible if they just blew off the issue.
Although I do agree that Sony was "respectful" in delaying the release due to the offensive wording, I also think they were simply afraid that they would be drug through another lawsuit if they did not recall the game. The group that demanded the elimination of the song needs to look around and pick their battles. Considering the fact that one of the greatest complaints of present day video games is the idea that they allow an individual to become numb to murder and crime. It has been said that virtual simulation on these games allows the player to commit crimes on screen, and can eventually lead to a real life crime. So this offense that Sony has apparently commited against this religion should be one of the least of the concerns. If they are going to stand against the gaming industry for something, stand up against a greater cause.
It seems that there is no way to please everyone no matter what you do or say. I think it is good that the AIFD spokesman made it clear that if they do not want the game, then they should not buy it. It is always that simple, and people always blow it out of proportion.
I wish people could understand that it is just a game and they are just words from the Quran. It did not say that it was anything offensive to Muslims. I don't know if Muslims are more sensitive compared to Westerners, but if this could really bother them that much, then like the AIFD spokesman said do not buy it. I do not think that they should have pulled the game. I think that step was a little extreme.
-Jeff Lown
It seems as if it is a modern trend to be extremely sensitive when it comes to the possibility of offending a persons religion. Without knowing much contextual information about the lyrics from the Quran, I'm not sure how potentially offensive such a thing could be. As an outsider to the religion and as an unbiased observer, it seems to me that this would not be seen as a big deal by the majority of the Muslim population.
Raziel Scher MCCNM 101 11:00
well, this is a tough one. They are offended by the wording. Well, I have played many a game or two where I have been offended by the images and the song lyrics. Am i right to say that guitar hero is quite the 'rock and roll' theme, am I right to say that women are depicted as mere 'images' for the male eye to enjoy and look at in some games?
I agree with the statement different audiences require different relationships. I appreciate the fact that sony is trying to be sensitive, but next time try to analyze every aspect before ever being released.
Lindsay Wolking MCCNM 101
Seriously why do developesr bother to put games with Arabic chants anymore? Ocarina had to get it removed so did Zack and Wiki...okay fine fine just a little joke.
Anyway honestly looking at the lines I don't think they were offensive at all, but more so inappropriate for children (in which this game appeals to very much). I don't fully remember what the words were totally. But I remember it talking about "The God of Death" and similar things. Then again I don't see how this is even close to being as bad as Banjo-Kazooie's constant puns and similar things.
I can understand SONY's recalling of the game but I don't think that the song itself was that big of an offense.
I really didn't think this was a very big concerned.I say this because we have games that present sex, drugs and last but not least violence, but i don't hear to often people trying to get that resolved. we should just let companies make their money because when everything is all said and done we as a people are gonna do and buy whatever we want, and if it offends you that much than don't spend your money on it .
I will never understand this aspect of Islam. look at what happened with the Danish cartoons published. Riots broke out because a picture of the prophet you glorify is shown? Now words from your holy book that can be spoken by anyone are used in a video game and you are upset? Just doesn't make sense
I own this game and I am actually glad that they have only music that doesn't have lyrics. By having only instrumental songs the chances of offending people is lowered by a ton. On top of not having music with lyrics in the game, LBP doesn't allow gamers to upload music to personal levels that they have created. Only soundtracks from the game are allowed to be inserted for gameplay. This is a small effort yes but it does aid in creating a sense of neutrality amongst gamers that are able to play across the internet with people all over the world.
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